Increasing seed size and quality by manipulating BIG SEEDS1 in legume species
2016
Ge, Liangfa | Yu, Jianbin | Wang, Hongliang | Luth, Diane | Bai, Guihua | Wang, Kan | Chen, Rujin
Plant organs such as seeds are primary sources of food for both humans and animals. Seed size is one of the major agronomic traits that have been selected in crop plants during their domestication. Legume seeds are a major source of dietary proteins and oils. Here, we report a novel and conserved role for BIG SEEDS1 (BS1) gene in the control of seed size and weight in the model legume Medicago truncatula and the grain legume soybean (Glycine max). BS1 encodes a plant-specific transcription regulator and plays a key role in the control of the size of plant organs, including seeds, seed pods and leaves, through a regulatory module that targets primary cell proliferation. Importantly, down-regulation of BS1 orthologs in soybean by an artificial microRNA significantly increased soybean seed size, weight and amino acid content. Our results provide a new strategy for the increase of yield and seed quality in legumes.
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